


Home

by jadewolf



Series: Adventures of Team Crab [2]
Category: Moana (2016)
Genre: A New Life, Aiata - Freeform, Gen, In a New Place, Moving, Ripekanga, Rīpekanga!Verse, Starting Over, Tuahangata - Freeform, lalotai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-15
Updated: 2019-10-15
Packaged: 2020-12-17 06:02:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21049514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jadewolf/pseuds/jadewolf
Summary: In the wake of the events of Rīpekanga, two crabs struggle to make a new home in a strange and dangerous new realm.  A short in the Rīpekanga series.





	Home

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote in the midst of a life changing move of my own. So, in honor of that, please have a happy Tamatoa Tuesday and enjoy "Home"!

Lalotai was a realm utterly unlike anything found on the surface, yet for Tamatoa and Aiata there was a strange familiarity to it. Both had spent their entire terrestrial life upon the island of Rīpekanga, having never before set a single dactyl in their ancestral realm. Nevertheless there was often something that just seemed _natural_ about being there. It was as if the surreal, glowing landscape spoke to some innate sense within them and called them back to where their kind originated. For the two crab monsters, fleeing to Lalotai had somehow felt like coming _home_.

However, there was so much that was _unfamiliar_, too. Lalotai’s jewel-like landscape contained endless new dangers, concealed within a deceptive and lethal beauty. For the two foreign crabs, there was much to learn if they wanted to not just survive, but _thrive_ in this new world. There was no going back, either. Their island--the only home they had ever known--had sunk beneath the waves. Despite the innate sense of _belonging_, Lalotai was still unfathomably huge and it quickly became difficult to truly see it as _home_ when it was so vastly different from anything they knew.

Their first weeks were a struggle, to say the least. Lalotai held endless promise, but from the very start they were beset upon by nearly as endless trouble. Both were injured, Tamatoa only barely recovered from losing his leg and Aiata badly hurt, weak from blood loss and exhaustion. They had forged on anyway.They had survived Maui; they would not be taken down so easily by this realm.

Tamatoa shouldered most of the weight now, supporting Aiata as she had done for him when he had needed it most. The first necessity was _food_, of course. This need gave their wanderings a purpose and, despite knowing nothing about the local flora and fauna, Tamatoa had doggedly chased down promising scents to find food.

With neither at full fighting capacity yet, he sought first to scavenge. The scent of death was easy to lock onto, even in a foreign realm.After a few false starts, he eventually lead them to a mostly-eaten carcass of some enormous fish monster. It was days past overripe and had been picked over until all but the stringiest and foulest of meat clung to the bones.It smelled horrendous and tasted worse.

Hungry crabs were never picky, though. Though it was less than preferable, their kind was ideally suited for wringing every last nutrient out of even the poorest of rotten fare. They stripped every shred of meat and tendons; they cracked the bones open for marrow; they ate every scrap of skin and scale.It wasn’t enough, they were both still hungry, but it at least took the edge off until they could find something more.

And Tamatoa was _determined_. After a brief rest, he lead them further into the new realm in pursuit of food. But he didn’t dare abandon Aiata, injured as she was, to hunt in earnest.Left with few options, he again resorted to scavenging. It wasn’t fine dining, but he still unerringly managed to find them _something_ to eat.

He even braved a few of the odd, monster-sized fruits that grew in the wild realm. It was a risky venture, though.While, there was precious little that a crab’s system could not effectively process on the surface, the glowing, strange-smelling fruits of Lalotai could easily harbor unknown toxins. Tamatoa regarded them all with deep suspicion, only attempting to test their edibility when finding anything better was utterly impossible.

But even Lalotai’s oversized fruit couldn’t sustain all their needs. They needed protein to recover and that meant _meat_. Scavenging had gotten them through the first few days, but Tamatoa knew he would have to do better. He was going to have to find a way to hunt, without leaving Aiata vulnerable while he did so.

What they really needed was _shelter_. Somewhere safe and defensible, where they could rest without worrying about an imminent attack and where Aiata could fully heal from the horrific neck wound that had laid her low.

The need was growing more pressing, too. Tamatoa had not failed to notice the _other_ complication to their predicament. He had seen the swell of Aiata’s abdomen and knew well enough what _that_ meant in the later days of the summer season.

Tamatoa had to find them better food and shelter. And fast.

It was only out of that growing sense of urgency that Tamatoa reluctantly turned to Tuahangata for help. Even with the demigod just a mere severed head and even given the aid he had provided _and _Aiata’s stalwart defense of him, Tamatoa had his doubts about the demigod’s trustworthiness. He _still_ wasn’t sure why exactly Aiata felt it necessary to bring the demigod with them to Lalotai. He hadn’t argued, though.Aiata had her reasons; she always did.However, Tamatoa had, as a general rule, maintained a stiff silence towards the disembodied head so far, ignoring it as much as possible. He still remembered with vivid clarity the moment when Tuahangata’s spear had pierced his claw, magically pinning it to the ground.Tamatoa could not forget what a demigod was capable of, either.He had lost his leg and very nearly his life to a demigod, after all. But the pressure was mounting and Tamatoa would do what was necessary, even if it was unpleasant.

He asked Tuahangata to use his newly discovered second sight to find him suitable prey.

Tamatoa sensed a certain reluctance in the decapitated demigod’s demeanor at the request, but Tuahangata’s eyes had lingered on Aiata’s face--and the massive, raw wound down her neck--and then he had provided what Tamatoa needed.

They had fresh meat that night.

Afterwards, he was rewarded to see Aiata’s color improving. She had lost a significant amount of blood and had driven herself near to collapse in those final days on Rīpekanga, but finally getting a decent meal had done much towards bringing her around.

Of course, it had its adverse effects, too.

Aiata was sleeping soundly, resting in the shadow of some strange coral-like polyps that passed as trees in this realm. Tamatoa was standing watch, keeping an eye out for any potential threats while his mate slumbered.But with a full stomach for the first time in what seemed like weeks, Tamatoa found himself drifting. His eyestalks and antennae sagged, growing heavy as he drowsed.His eyes slid closed--just to rest for a few moments, that’s all!Just for a few--

“_TAMATOA!_”

The urgent shout ripped him from sleep. Antennae shooting up and eyes flying open, he sought the source of the cry.

It was Tuahangata’s head, perched on Aiata’s back. Aiata was awake too, struggling to stand.

The demigod shouted his warning again. “Wake up!!Something’s coming!”

Tamatoa shook the sleepy haze from his antennae, leaping up onto his three dactyls. No sooner had he stood when there was a crash of movement behind him.Spinning around to face the unknown threat, he raised his claws just in time to meet an onrushing attack.

Pincers clashed with curved talons with a thunderous clap of sound. Tamatoa had little chance to even determine what he was fighting before it was upon him in a flurry of screeching and feathers that blotted out most of his vision. It struck at him with unrelenting fury, claws slashing and scratching gouges in his exoskeleton, and he _still_ couldn’t see what it was. Every attack was more vicious than the last. Struggling with this nightmarish foe, Tamatoa snapped his claws at anything that moved. Finally, he somehow managed to grab a clawful of something solid.With a snarl, he twisted whatever it was sideways and jerked it down, _hard_.

The creature screamed, a high wail of fury and pain as it was wrenched to the side. Then Tamatoa _squeezed, _bringing the full force of his immense strength down upon the mystery appendage he held. He felt bones crunch in his grasp.All at once, the talons stopped kicking at him and began pulling away.

Now it was Tamatoa who pressed the attack, refusing to allow the creature any retreat. His other claw clasped around a scaly leg and he clamped down with a vengeance.More bones snapped with a hollow popping sound that was quickly drowned out by pained shrieks.

Still holding onto the other limb--he thought it must be a wing or an arm--Tamatoa jerked his claws wide, pulling the squawking creature in two opposing directions. Its screams reached a fever pitch, desperate and agonized all at once.Then the shrieking cut off abruptly as the creature was torn apart, the howling replaced by a sickening rending of flesh.

With the bisected creature now limp in his claws, Tamatoa let out a sigh of relief and dropped the mangled carcass to the ground. Only then was he able to see what it was--a massive flightless bird with a razor sharp beak, a heavy bony crest upon its head, and three-toed feet with wicked curving talons at the end of its heavily muscled legs.

With the threat neutralized, Tamatoa slumped with another weary sigh and his eyes closed. That had been _close_. How could he have fallen asleep?! Aiata might have been hurt!If not for the demigod’s warning--

A gentle touch broke through his thoughts and Tamatoa jumped, startled. His eyes opened again to see Aiata’s face across from his.“Aiata, I…” he began, uncertain what to say.

She twined her antennae around his and the smile she gave him was everything that needed to be said.

\---

Inevitably, things got more complicated before they got any less. Only a few weeks into their Lalotai wanderings, Aiata had laid their eggs. Tamatoa knew she had tried to hold off as long as she could, but it was not something that could be delayed indefinitely.

For more than two centuries, this was an ordeal that they had undertaken in the safety of Aiata’s tunnels on Rīpekanga. None dared disturb the crabs in that protected sanctuary of dark caverns and twisting passageways, leaving them unmolested during such a vulnerable time. Then, a few days later, after Aiata had rested and recovered her strength, they would migrate back across the island to Tamatoa’s territory where they would finish out the season. Tamatoa would fish for her nightly, providing her with anything she needed until it was time to release their eggs into the sea.

This year, however, they were homeless and adrift in a strange realm. When Aiata could wait no longer, they were left without options and forced to proceed in the open, unprotected wilds of Lalotai.

It was a harrowing experience, with Aiata still weak and Tamatoa nervously defending the little alcove in a crystalline forest where they took temporary shelter. He wanted to be _beside_ her at this time like always, but instead he had taken the demigod’s head to serve as an alarm and had stood sentry at the narrow entry to the clearing he had found. Here he drove away, with great vehemence, any curious monsters that dared wander too close.And there were _many_ to be driven off. The scent of freshly laid crab eggs was proving an attractive lure to the realm’s many hungry and opportunistic creatures. Tamatoa had his claws full keeping them away.By the time the day was over, both Tamatoa and Aiata were thoroughly exhausted from their exertions.

But the sight of his strong, fierce mate, delicately cradling their many eggs--little translucent jewels of brilliant orange containing tiny sparks of new life--filled Tamatoa with the same familiar sense of wonder and joy at their accomplishment as it had for centuries. For just a little while, the worry all faded away and they revelled in their season’s culmination.

Beaming with pride, Tamatoa counted every single egg--all five-thousand four-hundred and thirty-six of them! For all the stress and strife they had suffered this season, they had still managed to produce the largest clutch of their two centuries together. And, Tamatoa smugly noted, every egg contained a viable embryo.Not a single missed egg!

Eyes shining with equal pride, Aiata brushed their clutch gently, lovingly, with careful strokes of her grooming claws. With a flick of her antennae, she beckoned Tamatoa to her side.He gladly complied, settling beside her on the unfamiliar ground in this glittering, foreign forest of crystal spikes. Together, pressed close with antennae entwined, they took comfort in the timeless rituals that carried on despite the world changing all around them.

\---

Needless to say, this made the need for shelter _imperative_. Aiata needed a safe place to care for their eggs. The developing eggs, carried under her abdomen upon her slender pleopods, needed constant grooming to keep them free of dirt and other contaminants; and they also had to be kept moist with clean, fresh water. Both tasks were difficult--nigh impossible--to do when rootless and on the move.And when it came time to release them, they absolutely _had _to find access to the sea, otherwise they would lose the whole clutch with nowhere for them to hatch.

There was no getting around it now, Tamatoa had to find them a _real_ home. Preferably one with easy access to an acceptable beach.

He doubled his efforts.

Dipping his antennae into the rich tapestry of Lalotai scents, Tamatoa sought out the thread of salty air that would lead them towards the sea. It was difficult, as the sea was always present overhead in Lalotai’s surreal version of a sky, but the _sea_ had a different flavor from the _shore_. He focused on the smell of agitated salty air, mixed with notes of beached seaweed and the fishy odor that accompanied the other detritus washed ashore with the surf.

It took him three days to find what passed for the coast in this upside-down realm. Together, they all stared in wonder at the surreal scene before them.There was no horizon here. The sea-sky curved down in an impossible rippling arc to meet the sandy shore.Waves rolled down the curve like rain, cresting into curling barrels as they dripped down the barrier of their new world until they finally met the shore as familiar breakers. Through this crystal-clear wall of water, they could see fish swimming placidly on the other side.

It was one of the strangest things Tamatoa had ever seen. He stared, transfixed, for long moments before Aiata broke the stunned silence with a quiet query.

“Do… do you think it has tides and currents?”

Tamatoa’s awe was cut short by the jarring reality of her hesitant question. Without strong tidal currents to sweep their offspring out to sea, their young would never survive the harsh aquatic phase of their life. Lingering too close to the shore, they would be quickly devoured by the many creatures that lived in and around those shallow waters.No, their offspring _needed_ to be pulled into deeper, safer water where they had a better chance of survival.

But Tamatoa wasn’t going to be deterred. Not when they were so close.Not after all they’d been through.

“If this one doesn’t, we’ll find one that does,” he stated breezily, with a confidence he didn’t possess but was desperate to believe was true. “Now, let’s find a place to _live_.”

\---

They scouted the coastline for another two days before Tamatoa found _exactly _what he wanted. It loomed up in the distance, a tall spire that dominated the skyline for many leagues. Something about it caught his eye and, drawn to it, Tamatoa adjusted their course.It was only a few hours walk from the sea and, as they got closer, more details became clear. Tamatoa’s pace quickened with excitement.

Perched on the edge of a cliff was a gargantuan spiral shell, not unlike the type of modest snail shell he might have worn as a young crab. Perhaps it was this old familiarity that drew him to it and gave it such a homey feel, even from afar.But there was little modest about this place. The massive shell sat amongst a pile of others, but the main one reached high, the crown of it plunging through the underside of the sea overhead.There was only one approach, up a winding set of reef terraces which provided a grandiose front that immediately appealed to Tamatoa’s gaudier sensibilities. Geysers dotted the terraces, erupting with dramatic fountains of spray that only added to the curb appeal as far as he was concerned.Furthermore, the precipice it sat upon dropped sharply away into a seemingly bottomless abyss that, combined with the single approach, would provide protection and defense against most monsters. And at the base of the terraces, a clear, fast-running stream meandered through the reef.

It had _everything_\--protection, ample resources, and _style_. It was _perfect_.

It was _occupied_.

Aiata, quite sensibly, suggested they just keep looking. But Tamatoa had seen how her eyes had lit up at the sight of this place; he had seen her disappointment at spotting the current occupants, a pair of thorny-spined lobsters, moving about the structure.

Besides, they had been drifting through this realm for _weeks_, dodging other monsters and sleeping uneasily each day in the open with no safe haven of their own. And now they had eggs to care for, too.

A deeply rooted stubborn streak in Tamatoa took hold, blended with the natural instincts that pushed _hard_ in the late summer. He wasn’t going to wander aimlessly any more, constantly fighting off other monsters and sleeping with one eye open. No, he was going to protect his mate and their eggs.And he was going to _take that lair!_

The decision had barely been made before he was on the move, marching boldly up that winding approach. So confident and brazen, it was almost as if he had never lost his leg, had never fought Maui and had his confidence shattered. Forgetting all those nagging insecurities, he roared a bold challenge that brought both the lobsters scrambling out to face him.

They were both nearly his size, though just a shade smaller in height. They were long-bodied and heavily armored, with thick exoskeleton protecting their thorax and hard, sharp spines studding their legs and carapace. They sported mismatched pincers, too--one thin and sharply serrated and the other broad, powerful, and densely muscled.And, of course, there were _two_ of them.

But they were not without weaknesses, which Tamatoa sized up quickly. Their soft, curled tails were shielded only by a thin, flexible layer of exoskeleton. Their antennae were thick and long, but inflexible and extending well past the reach of their own claws. And neither monster had a terribly intelligent or cunning look about their eyes.Their faces were set in purely pugilistic aggression, a single-tracked belligerence that was easily set off by even minor slights.

“Good evening! Here to serve your eviction notice!” Tamatoa quipped jauntily. Then flashed them a wicked grin, all teeth and glowing eyes and bad intentions--an open provocation if there ever was one.

Furious at his glib arrogance, they snarled a retort that would have melted basalt. 

Then they charged.

Laughing, Tamatoa surged forward with claws wide to meet them.

\---

Later that night, nestled comfortably beneath the watery moonlight streaming in from the open roof of their new lair, Tamatoa and Aiata shared a romantic lobster dinner.

Their legs interlocked and their antennae joined, they toasted to their survival. Not only had they survived Maui, but they had managed to successfully carve out a place for themselves in a new realm. Surely, the worst must be behind them now.

So content with the moment, Tamatoa didn’t even complain when Aiata insisted on sharing some of their meal with the severed demigod head she had placed on a rock in their new lair. But Tuahangata was an issue Tamatoa would think about later.For now, he was basking in the glow of their hard-won victory.

Tamatoa slid another succulent chunk of lobster tail over to Aiata, which she accepted gladly. His gaze lingered tenderly on her, taking in the half-healed gash down her neck.It was mending slowly, but well. Of course, it would leave quite a scar, but that did nothing to tarnish her beauty in his eyes.If anything, it _added _to it; his mate was a fierce warrior--with the battle scars to prove it!--and her true beauty lay in her strength and intelligence.

She caught his gaze and smiled, a softness in her face he knew was reserved exclusively for him. “You did good, Tama,” she told him, sliding her antennae against his in a fond caress.

He beamed, sitting a little taller under her praise. “All for you,” he murmured back.

Aiata’s smile grew. “And for them,” she added, running a grooming claw lightly over their eggs.

Looking over their clutch, Tamatoa again felt that surge of pride at their accomplishment. After so much struggle, they would once again bring new life into the world.Another few weeks and it would be time to release their eggs into the sea. It had been a daunting prospect just a few days ago.But now?Now, they were ready.

Now, they were _home_.


End file.
